The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is one step closer to proposing a rule that would prohibit coercion of drivers by carriers, shippers or receivers. The proposal is now at the White House Office of Management and Budget for review before publication.

Trucking’s overriding challenge on Capitol Hill this year is passage of a new highway program. The current program expires at the end of October. It launched a number of substantive reforms and policy initiatives but was funded for just two years with money taken from here and there in the federal budget.

New Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration hours-of-service regulations for truckers could mean increased costs for consumers, according to a new study from the University of Tennessee’s Global Supply Chain Institute.

The stage is set for a political grilling of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration at a House hearing Thursday on the hours-of-service rule. Amid relentless criticism of the 34-hour restart and 30-minute break provisions of the rule, agency administrator Anne Ferro will be called on to explain and defend the agency’s decision-making.

FTR's Trucking Conditions Index reading of 9.97 in September continues to show a positive environment for trucking. The index is expected to peak in October after which the full impact of the newly enacted hours-of-service rules negatively affect trucking.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is not going to meet the September 30 deadline for completing its study of the 34-hour restart provision of the hours of service rule, a Hill staff member reported.

An hours-of-service guidance for oilfield haulers will remain as it is, although the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it is open to applications for individual exceptions. In other HOS news, the agency is looking for comments on exempting munitions and livestock haulers from the 30-minute break requirement.

A federal appeals court generally affirmed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s new hours-of-service rule. It rejected the agency’s application of the 30-minute break to short-haul drivers.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the 34-hour restart provision of the new truck driver hours-of-service rule but rejected the 30-minute break requirement for short-haul drivers.

It is too soon to measure the full impact of the changes in the hours of service rule, but the carriers that will be most affected are high-output truckload fleets that have drivers out on the road for weeks at a time, says Noel Perry, an economist with FTR Associates.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Thursday is expected to publish its granting of a limited 90-day waiver from the 30-minute rest break provision of the federal hours-of-service (HOS) regulations for the transportation of livestock.

An expectation of capacity tightening comes as carriers report how they will respond to new HOS regulations taking effect on July 1. The way their shippers work to minimize the impact of these changes will also affect this lowering utilization.

The hearing by the House Highways Subcommittee offered the major contenders in the perpetual HOS wars a chance to air their complaints, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration the chance to defend itself.